Looking for effective strategies and best practices to break the cycle of ineffective school reform implementation? Author Grace Sammon takes a sobering look at the state of high school reform and identifies the elements that keep us "running in place", rather than making progress on a road to success. Battling the Hamster Wheel (TM) offers research-based insights and strategies, stories from the field, and humor to help lead change agents and school leaders in a reform process to build the school communities they seek to create. It also provides the skills to establish and sustain the critical elements for schools' success: Demonstrating high expectations and a matching vision Building capacity to create a true climate for success Thinking small and dreaming big Engaging in legitimate community support Thriving with strong, sustained, and shared leadership Effectively aligning and managing resources Understanding the importance of time This insightful resource includes a built-in book study and facilitator's guide for school boards, administrators, teachers, consultants, and students of education, and for professional development events.
"Christa Metzger has provided a heartfelt syllabus for maintaining the all-important connections between mind and body, between physical and psychological experience. Know yourself, she counsels, and then she provides a multitude of tips both large and small to light the way. If a difficult journey begins with a single step, heeding the invaluable counsel of this book is the right first step to take." -Robert W. Cole, Editor and Writer Former Editor-in Chief, Phi Delta Kappa President, Educational Press Association of America Promote strong teaching and learning while maintaining personal leadership development and growth! Do you find yourself looking for a better way to respond to the stresses of your job? Are you asking, "How do I relate my job to my goals and beliefs and achieve a sense of balance between my personal and professional life?" You're not alone. Many school leaders have these questions, but the answers are not always easy to find. After conducting intensive research and observations of school district superintendents, administrators, and school principals, the author offers strategies for achieving a healthy work and life balance, including: Taking care of yourself as well as you do others Defining and applying the six themes of personal growth Nourishing your spirit, finding time for solitude and meditation, and cultivating relationships Fulfilling your purpose as a leader and finding meaning as a person By learning to take of yourself, you not only enhance your own work and life, you also enhance the lives of people you encounter on a daily basis.
"Christa Metzger has provided a heartfelt syllabus for maintaining the all-important connections between mind and body, between physical and psychological experience. Know yourself, she counsels, and then she provides a multitude of tips both large and small to light the way. If a difficult journey begins with a single step, heeding the invaluable counsel of this book is the right first step to take." -Robert W. Cole, Editor and Writer Former Editor-in Chief, Phi Delta Kappa President, Educational Press Association of America Promote strong teaching and learning while maintaining personal leadership development and growth! Do you find yourself looking for a better way to respond to the stresses of your job? Are you asking, "How do I relate my job to my goals and beliefs and achieve a sense of balance between my personal and professional life?" You're not alone. Many school leaders have these questions, but the answers are not always easy to find. After conducting intensive research and observations of school district superintendents, administrators, and school principals, the author offers strategies for achieving a healthy work and life balance, including: Taking care of yourself as well as you do others Defining and applying the six themes of personal growth Nourishing your spirit, finding time for solitude and meditation, and cultivating relationships Fulfilling your purpose as a leader and finding meaning as a person By learning to take of yourself, you not only enhance your own work and life, you also enhance the lives of people you encounter on a daily basis.
Leadership, Quality, and the Role of Classroom Assessment
This comprehensive new guide helps education leaders create a standards-based assessment program that supports ESSA implementation, balances formative and summative approaches, and empowers faculty and students.
Balanced Assessment is ideal for teachers who are moving toward more authentic assessments but are reluctant to completely abandon more traditional models. This resource demonstrates how using the Tri-Assessment Model that combines portfolio and performance assessments with traditional assessments can provide a truer, more holistic look at students. Author Robin Fogarty also provides several in-depth strategies and activity suggestions that can be used in any classroom to tap into the full range of students' potential.
Partner With Your Students to Reimagine Learning and Reclaim Your Life
Balance With Blended Learning provides teachers with practical strategies to actively engage students in setting goals, monitoring development, reflecting on growth, using feedback, assessing work quality, and communicating their progress with parents.
Harness the power of nature to nurture minds and hearts Youth spend anywhere between four and nine hours on screens every single day. Meanwhile, a growing body of research shows how detrimental excessive screen time is on physical and mental health. The antidote? Green time. Written by bestselling author and science educator Emily Morgan, Balance Screen Time With Green Time gives teachers and school leaders practical, evidence-based strategies that seamlessly incorporate the restorative power of nature into the school day. Transform learning experiences and improve student and educator well-being with: Research-based strategies that improve attention, engagement, pro-environmental behaviors, and mental and physical health while reducing stress Dozens of easy-to-implement "green breaks"-short, invigorating experiences with nature-that help students and teachers renew and refocus throughout the school day Stories of innovative educators who connect students with nature and offer meaningful ways to integrate green time while enhancing learning A curated collection of resources to support educators of all grade levels, content areas, and school environments-urban, suburban, and rural With green time, we have an opportunity to create a generation of students who are not only more connected to the natural world, but are also the environmental stewards our future so desperately needs. Balancing screen time with green time is an investment in student well-being, our collective future, and a healthier planet.
Dismantling Harmful Beliefs That Hinder Equitable Mathematics Education
Math really is for everyone-so let's prove it. You've heard it from kids, from friends, and from celebrities: "I'm bad at math." It's a line that society tends to accept without examination-after all, some people just aren't "math people," right? Wrong. As we do with other essential skills, we need to expose the stereotypes, challenge the negative mindsets, and finally confront the systemic opportunity gaps in math education, and replace them with a new vision for what math is, who it's for, and who can excel at it. In this book you'll find Research on teacher and student mindsets and their effect on student achievement Audience-specific and differentiated tools, reflection questions, and suggested actions for educators at all levels of the system Examples from popular media, as well as personal stories and anecdotes Quotes, data-driven figures, and suggestions for deeper learning on all aspects of a positive and equitable vision of math education Both social commentary and a toolkit of solutions, this bold new book directly challenges the constructs that have historically dictated our perceptions of what makes someone a "math person". Only by dismantling those misplaced assumptions can we reform math education so it works for everyone. Because in truth, we are all math people.
